Chapter 14
Anna
When I pulled up to the address, I did a double take. It wasn't a construction site anymore. Rather, it was an actual house, or more accurately, a huge mansion unlike anything I'd ever seen, even back whenI'dbeen the one with money.
Although the house looked completely finished, the yard was still buzzing with activity. Out front, at least a dozen landscapers were planting bushes and flowers along the main walkway while another crew worked on completing a tall brick wall that surrounded the oversized yard.
Beyond the wall, a dense forest of mature trees was already budding with the promise of spring.
Finished or not, the whole setup was beyond spectacular, at least from the outside. The house was big and sprawling, with two stories, lots of windows, and intricate stonework all along the front.
It looked like something out of a fairy tale.But what kind?
The kind where the girl gets munched by monsters?
I shuddered.Let's hope not.
As I parked in the turnaround and made my way up to the massive front door, I couldn’t help but wonder why he'd built the placehere, on the outskirts of Sugar Falls, when he could've built anywhere in the country, or even in the whole world for that matter.
Was this his super-secret getaway or something?
Probably.
Funny, I wouldn't mind getting away, too – providing I could get away fromhimin the process.
Bracing myself, I rang the bell and waited. When Flynn answered wearing jeans and a dark T-shirt, I summoned up a tentative smile. "Well, here I am."
Without bothering to smile back, he motioned for me to come inside, where I was surprised to see that the interior was not only completed, but fully furnished too.
The place had it all – rugs, furniture, paintings, you name it – and not the cheap stuff either.
I knew this, because over the last few years, I'd become an expert – on the cheap stuff, that is.
Trying not to gawk, I followed silently behind him until he turned and headed up a wide, ornate stairway.
I stopped just below the first step. "Where are you going?"
He turned and gave me a look. "You mean, 'Where arewegoing?'"
The other night, I'd made it perfectly clear that our arrangement was for show only, meaning that anyrealboyfriend-girlfriend stuff was completely out of the question.
Even now, I wasn't sure what was more mortifying – that he hadn't seemed to care or that he'd actually laughed at the idea.
As if he'd be slumming it or something.
I squinted past him. "What's up there, anyway?"
"What do you think?" he said. "The bedrooms."
"Yeah, but why would we need to go up there?"
"Well, it's not so I can fuck you, if that's your guess."
I stiffened. "Do you have to be so crude?"
"Yeah, because you're wasting time." He eyed me with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "And as far as the fucking goes, don't worry, I'm not interested."
My face burned with embarrassment.Did he think that I was?
